Newcastle professor urges caution with blood thinner

A Newcastle University Professor has urged caution for both doctors and patients in the use of a new anti-coagulant or blood thinning drug.

Professor of Medicine and Clinical Epidemiology John Attia has examined the results of a trial of the drug dabigatran with his appraisal published in the Medical Journal of Australia.

Professor Attia has raised concerns about the risk of bleeding and heart attack and claims the benefits of the drug for the broader population have been overstated.

Professor Attia says a patient's risk of cardiovascular disease should be considered when prescribing the drug.

"Dabigatran is probably the first anti coagulant that doesn't seem to protect you against heart attack," he said.

"So most people who have a stroke also have heart disease and most of the agents that we have protects you both against stroke and against heart attacks but this is a completely new class of drug that appears to protect you against stroke but not against heart attack."

Professor Attia says doctors need to consider several issues when deciding who the drug is appropriate for.

"It should be used, but with caution," he said.

"I think people have been very quick to take it up because it is the first alternative to wafarin that doesn't need to be monitored.

"But in doing that I think people have been over enthusiastic in adopting it and people who were doing fine on warfarin have been switched and have run into problems."